When a K-drama fan is super excited but no one in her family understands

I spent a little bit too much time with my family and went on a trip to Canada for a week and half. We planned to spend about 2 days in Quebec City and I was excited for an entirely different reason than everyone else. See, it's not easy for me to visit Seoul, but since I live in New York, it's a lot more reasonable for me to travel to Quebec. And one very substantial drama was filmed in Quebec, Goblin!

I went to all the locations I saw in the drama. I went into the Frontenac and was disappointed by the size of the lobby. It was quite small. But I found the letter box where Eun Tak sent herself a letter. Then I hiked all the way up to the park that overlooks the city and sat on the hill to take it all in. There's no gravesite there by the way, everyone should know that. I walked down to the city's wall and the fountain where Kim Shin fell in love with Eun Tak. Finally, I believe that I walked into the Christmas shop where Eun Tak frequented. I can't be certain about that one, though. I'm not adding any of my photos because they're all crappy. But everything was the same except, a lot more crowded, under construction (is the entire world under construction during the summer !?), and hot under the summer sun.

I was so excited to see all these locations and my family lumbered after me the entire time, not understanding why I wanted to see these specific places. No one told them they had to follow me everywhere. I hope I can share these experiences with people who understand next time.

I didn't have a great deal of free time, but I've been back for a week now. As if I wasn't already behind on a million shows I've started, I fell behind 2 more weeks and more shows  have premiered. I only had the time to watch my current favorites, and one new interest.

Bride of the Water God 2017

I think I found my newest crack drama (to add to the list of thousands I'm already working on). I was fascinated by the set up behind this drama (have never read the original), but was really worried about the casting. Nam Joo Hyuk was pretty much the only actor in this drama I was interested in. Gong Myung is still a newbie actor, despite his strong popularity, and his cute persona doesn't seem like it fits. Krystal is an idol actress, and a bad one at that. Shin Se Kyung is the only truly seasoned actor in the bunch and she doesn't have a strong record. After watching the first 4 episodes, I still don't like the appearance of Gong Myung and Krystal, but Shin Se Kyung has pleasantly surprised me. She actually fits her character quite well!

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this drama's concept after seeing some of the posters released. I thought it would take a much more serious tone than it actually does. But I quite like the comedic nature it's taken on. I love seeing Habaek flounder around in impotence and having his arrogance met with distress. Although it's difficult to fully explain, his character reminds me a bit of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. There's something about the veil of vanity and sense of self-importance hiding a man who is too full of himself to ask for help. I loved that character, too. I can't wait for more!

Queen for Seven Days

Ugh, this show is like a deity. It has the power to both give me and destroy my life. I've made it to episode 11 at this point. There are still bright and happy moments, but I can feel tragedy looming closer. The king's love for Chae Kyung has gone from caring to possessive and it makes me sad that she's still trying to reason with him cuz he's a goner! Even as a viewer, I find him frightening. He's not the type of person who should be running a country. Which I suppose is the reason there was actually a rebellion against him in history.

As for Yeok, I found his sudden personality change in episode 9 somewhat jarring. There were moments when he would laugh and smile at Chae Kyung secretly, but his bitterness was overwhelming. One moment he's scolding Chae Kyung and the next he's charmingly trying to lure her out of her house. It's too much for a girl. I'm glad she didn't excuse his actions so easily. It seems that his cruelty towards her really was largely fueled by a sense of betrayal, but how could he doubt her loyalty and love for moment? All she does is go on about how precious he is to her and how she must protect him. Really, how can neither of these two accept each other's honest love?

Suspicious Partner

Aigoo, I used to really enjoy watching this, but it's difficult right now. I understand it ended this week (!?!?), but I've finished episode 32. I'm mostly annoyed because the show already went through a "lying to protect you," noble idiocy, "I love you but I must leave you so I won't hurt you" phase several episodes ago. I sat through that one because I figured all dramas go through this phase and it's just something that comes before happiness. But I don't want to go through a plot point like this that seems to last multiple episodes. It's too long! Instead of focusing on Bong Hee's father, when he's so obviously innocent, I would rather put more attention on Hyun Soo. We've finally gotten to the amnesiac killer plot point, and I think it would be much more interesting to explore that more. I have to say though, adding something that doesn't happen until the last 3/4 of a show should not be in it's synopsis. It's obviously not part of the set up, so it doesn't belong there. Tsk tsk.